Bookmarking associates a URL with an identifier (or name). For example, the URL might be www.ibm.com and the identifier (or name) that would appear in your bookmark list might be “IBM”. A bookmark refers to a universal resource locator (URL) and a corresponding identifier typically stored as a hypertext markup link in a document or as a record in a database or as a file shortcut in a file system. Bookmarks are also known as Internet favorites or Internet shortcuts. An identifier can also be known as a label or a name.
It has become more and more common for a URL for a document to be shared with several members of a community, such as a group on a social network. In many cases, the URL of the document referred to by a bookmark is updated and the next time the bookmark is used there will be an error (because, for example, the document may be a file that is hosted in a database but the location of the database has changed).
A bookmark can exist for a long time in a Web browser bookmark list, because maintenance tends to be a low priority task. Bookmarks are a key feature to improve productivity and quickly find information that has already been located once on the Internet or on a private network such as an intranet. Bookmark management programs face several challenges: universal resource locators (URLs) are not as static as previously; links, images, and videos are increasingly stored on cloud hosted Web services; and increasingly people work and exchange information with a community.